1st December, Northamptonshire

Plataea BattleDay Special No. 2(general view of our Plataea trial using 20mm traditional plastic figures)

Rules, Orbats, General thinking.

We had the first outline kick around the other evening. I asked to try Neil Thomas's Ancient and Medieval Wargaming (AMW) as an interesting starting point.

The reason is simple. It has been suggested that as my plan entails using the flats, I might consider Tony Bath's original rules (which were conceived with flats in use). This involved a fiddly system for individual figure removal with which I am not impressed - the world has moved on (and so did Tony Bath's own methodology).

I am more interested in his post combat morale tests in which more of a stricken unit might desert and run as a consequence. Interestingly, AMW, which has full base removal, also has a morale test when a base is lost which might result in the unit disintegrating further.

So, allowing us to think about this (and as a low impact way to push the toys around) Graham helpfully set up a straight Greeks and Persians tussle.

As I know from when we played through Marathon sometime back, it is a walk over for the Greeks. 8 units v 8 units (standard Neil Thomas) the Greeks lost 1 unit by the time the Persians broke (6 down).

(plastic phalanx: the Athenian wing at Plataea)

The archery was sort of deadly - but not quite deadly enough. Losing a base makes Hoplites lose their special cohesion, which costs them a pip on the dice. But losing a base isn't quite a telling risk, and the one pip isn't quite enough to swing the combat (the hoplites will still roll more dice than archers - and then the armour saves ... hoplites save on 4+, 'unarmoured' Persians save on a 6 ... close the deal).

All justifiable - but Herodotus styles it a much tighter affair, implying there is a real contest for the Persian shield line, and only thereafter is the fight one-sided (and defined by the Greeks' longer spears and better armour) ...

I'm not suggesting I go with AMW but it clarified the critical points ... a Persian arrow storm which the Greeks survive (quite possibly by the expedient of sitting down, crouched behind their shields) ... a battle for the shield barricade which the Persians are able to contest - for a while at least ... then a one-sided affair once the barricade is lost (ultimately ending with the Persians trapped in their wooden refuge where they are put to the sword).

Orbats:

I've been looking at a recently published volume, Sparta at War, Strategy Tactics and Campaigns, 550 - 362 BC by American scholar Scott M Rusch ( Amazon link ). So far so good. I particularly like the way he simplifies the issue of numbers and deployment by listing the free Greek contingents, and specifying who they fought against.

I will reproduce that list:

GREEK HOPLITES .................... PERSIAN FOOT OPPOSITE THEM
10,000 Lacedaemonians .............................. Native Persians
1,500 Tegeans ............................................. Native Persians
5,000 Corinthians ............................................. Medes
300 Potideans ....................................................Medes
600 Orchomenians ........................................... Medes
3000 Sicyonians .................................................Medes
800 Epidaurians .............................................. Bactrians
1000 Troezenians............................................ Bactrians
200 Lepreates ................................................. Bactrians
400 Myceneans and Tirynthians ..................... Bactrians
1000 Phliasians ............................................... Bactrians
300 Hermioneans ............................................. Indians
600 Eretrians and Styrians ............................... Indians
400 Chalcidians ................................................. Indians
500 Ambraciots .................................................. Sacae
800 Leucadians and Anactorians ........................ Sacae
200 Paleans from Cephallenia ............................ Sacae
500 Aeginetans ................................................... Sacae
3000 Megarians .......................................... Subject Greeks
600 Plataeans ............................................. Subject Greeks
8000 Athenians .......................................... Subject Greeks

The Greeks who take on the Indians number around 1300, those that take on the Sakae 2,000: these are probably the lowest level to represent in the game ... about 1/6 in size compared with, say, the Spartans or the Immortals.

Rusch largely ignores the light troops and all the number crunching that goes with them. He has them protecting the flanks and tying up the numerous Persian cavalry so that the battle is left an infantry contest between the opposing contingents in the list. Neat.

The armies had been against each other for some time by the time of battle, and each contingent knew their place in the line and their probable opponents. Thus the battle has the feel of a series of prize-fights between the hurriedly summoned up forces as an encounter balloons into a set-piece battle.

I have to say the latter perspective very much put me in mind of Strategos or Hail Caesar and the contingent initiative rolls rapidly throwing units forward as the enemy tries to do likewise ...

So something somewhere between Tony Bath and Hail Caesar (but which runs at the pace of AMW) will do nicely. Possibly with a more deadly archery effect which can be nullified by sitting down behind your shield?

How to depict the barricade of shields will be critical. Those Spara/Gherra shields are big but pretty flimsy, you'd have thought ... Then again, if hoplite combat usually involves a good deal of jousting and not a lot of shoving (at least not much before the general othismos ..)... that jousting will be pretty ineffectual until the whole body of troops summons enough group momentum to push beyond the barricade and put their armour and better weapons to good effect.

2 more things we might like to look at.

I'm tempted to look at retaining NT's combat model, but possibly introducing differing unit sizes. It might be a way of improving the Persian arrow storm and allowing a more worrying combat prospect for the otherwise dominant Greeks. Perhaps the Persian should be allowed on such 'massed volley'? It might be that the Sparabarra rank cannot set up or man the barricade and shoot(?) ... so once the position is set, the shooting diminishes?

It would mean that the Persian army would end up being numerically bigger than the Greek whilst giving AMW's matching off of contingent v contingent. Hmmm. I think we could live with that.

(beset by archers: Greek contingents at Plataea)

And I suspect the shield barricades should negate any natural Hoplite benefit in combat (at contact at least - should the Hoplites need to 'win' a round of combat in order to push the barricade aside and for combat then to follow the hoplite v heavy archer norm? That sounds like the Herodotus story ...)

1. Break the unit size mould and give the Persians more bases.
2. Move Shooting to beginning of the move (except if skirmishers reserve their fire for split moves) allowing HI to choose to hide behind their shields (not move later in the turn) for a better save.
3. Introduce a special rule to enable the shield barricade to equalise the combat until the Greeks overcome it. The men in the shield rank are no longer able to shoot.
4. Look at the battle starting without all the units in place, and allowing the commanders to hurry contingents into the fray - given the leaders knew whom they would face, I suggest the appearance of a contingent on one side will prompt the appearance of its opponent on the other ....

Well, there is a skeleton of a game emerging from the test run, I think. I am not convinced the eventual game will be AMW, and I'm happy the methodology will translate to other systems.

Hopefully this will help move the discussion on the the key features of the battle as I am keen to hear how other designers are approaching these issues.

(The Greek right wing on the point of victory: few Persians remain on the field)